Individual application flow isotope tagging within a network infrastructure

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method, or computer program product for individual application flow isotope tagging within a network infrastructure. In this regard, the invention is configured to construct a robotic process automation application structured to determine data flow associated with a first technology application within a myriad of data transmission flows between a plurality of network nodes of the network infrastructure. The invention configures a robotic process automation application for inserting a unique isotope tag string in data packets associated with first technology activity performed by the first technology application, prior to transmission from a source network node. The invention is configured to track, in real time, the current locations of the data packets among the multitude of data packets being transmitted in the network, based on the first unique isotope tag string.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to network infrastructure monitoringand assessment. In particular, the present invention embraces a novelapproach to tracking data transmissions between network nodes of anetwork infrastructure.

BACKGROUND

Entities typically employ various network architectures comprisingmodems, hubs, switches, routers, load balancers, network hosts, servers,proxy servers, input/output devices, network terminals and computers andthe like. Typically, the devices in the network architecture run aplurality of technology applications for facilitating and performing amyriad of tasks and activities associated with the entity. Thesetechnology applications generate vast volumes of data flow across thenetwork nodes. However, with existing network architectures, it is notpossible to track data flows across the network nodes that areassociated with a particular technology application, without whichfunctioning of technology applications cannot be evaluated andmitigation steps cannot be implemented. There present invention providesa novel method of unique isotope tagging of individual data packetsassociated with each technology application, that are then leveraged toidentify, precisely and in real time, not only data flows associatedwith individual technology applications, but also the particularactivity or task component that they are associated with.

The previous discussion of the background to the invention is providedfor illustrative purposes only and is not an acknowledgement oradmission that any of the material referred to is or was part of thecommon general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to in general a system,method and computer program product for individual application flowisotope tagging within a network infrastructure. The system isconfigured to construct a robotic process automation applicationstructured to determine data flow associated with a first technologyapplication within the network infrastructure. The system typicallyincludes an entity communication network comprising a plurality ofnetwork nodes. The system also includes a control system in operativecommunication with the entity communication network comprising: a firstprocessor; a first memory device; and a robotic process automation (RPA)control application that is stored in the first memory device comprisingcomputer readable instructions executable by the first processor toperform one or more functions described below. The system also includesa robotic process automation (RPA) device in operative communicationwith the control configuration apparatus and the entity communicationnetwork, the RPA device comprising: a second processor; a second memorydevice; and a robotic process automation (RPA) isotope taggingapplication that is stored in the second memory device comprisingcomputer readable instructions executable by the second processor toperform one or more functions described below. That said, in someembodiments, the invention takes the form of a computer program productcomprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage mediahaving computer-executable instructions that when executed by one ormore processing devices are configured to cause the one or moreprocessing devices to perform one or more functions described below. Insome embodiments, the invention takes the form of a method forperforming one or more functions described below.

Typically, the invention, via the RPA control application is configuredto: identify the plurality of network nodes of the entity communicationnetwork, wherein identifying the plurality of network nodes comprisesdetermining the network architecture of the entity communicationnetwork; configure the robotic process automation (RPA) isotope taggingapplication for tagging and tracking data flow associated with a firsttechnology application based on the network architecture; transmit, viaa first operative communication link, the RPA isotope taggingapplication to the RPA device; and transmit a first control signal, viathe first operative communication link, to the RPA isotope taggingapplication, the first control signal being structured to cause thefirst robotic process automation application to initiate the tagging andtracking of the data flow associated with the first technologyapplication.

Moreover, the invention, via the RPA isotope tagging application isconfigured to: in response to the first control signal, identify a firstdata packet associated with a first technology activity of the firsttechnology application, wherein the first data packet is structured tobe transmitted from a source network node to a destination network nodeof the plurality of network nodes, via one or more intermediate networknodes of the plurality of network nodes; insert a first unique isotopetag string in at least one of a header element, a payload element, and atrailer element of the first data packet prior to transmission from thesource network node of the plurality of network nodes; initiatetransmission of the first data packet from the source network node ofthe plurality of network nodes to the destination network node of theplurality of network nodes; track, in real time, the data flow (alsoreferred to as application flow) of the first technology applicationwithin network data flow of a plurality of applications of the entitycommunication network, wherein tracking comprises determining a currentlocation of the first data packet based on the first unique isotope tagstring; and present, on a display device, the current location of thefirst data packet in an application tracking user interface.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, configuring the RPA isotope tagging application for taggingand tracking data flow associated with the first technology applicationcomprises structuring the RPA isotope tagging application to utilizecontrols of an input device of the RPA device to interact with a firstinterface of the first technology application for converting the RPAdevice into a virtual workstation for the RPA isotope taggingapplication.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, the RPA isotope tagging application is further configuredto: identify a first network transmission path that is associated withtransmitting the first data packet from the source network node to thedestination network node via a first intermediate network node of theone or more intermediate network nodes; determine a current networkperformance characteristic associated with the first intermediatenetwork node; and based on determining (i) that the current networkperformance characteristic associated with the first intermediatenetwork node is outside of a predetermined threshold range; (ii) that adata flow associated with the first technology activity of the firsttechnology application comprising the first data packet causes, at leastin part, the current network performance characteristic to occur atoutside of the predetermined threshold range, re-route one or moresecond data packets associated with the first technology activity of thefirst technology application through a second intermediate network nodeof the plurality of network nodes that is not associated with the firstnetwork transmission path; wherein the second intermediate network nodeis associated with transmitting the one or more second data packets fromthe source network node to the destination network node via a secondnetwork transmission path.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, the plurality of network nodes comprise one or more modems,one or more hubs, one or more switches, one or more routers, one or moreload balancers, and one or more data terminal equipment devices.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, the one or more data terminal equipment devices of theentity communication network comprise one or more of server devices,proxy servers, one or more computing devices, one or more data outputdevices, and/or one or more network hosts having corresponding uniquenetwork addresses.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, configuring the RPA isotope tagging application, by the RPAcontrol application, further comprises: identifying the first technologyapplication of a plurality of source technology applications run by thesource network node; identifying one or more technology activitiesperformed by the first technology application that are associated withtransmission of data packets between at least a portion of the pluralityof network nodes of the entity communication network; and structuringthe RPA isotope tagging application for inserting unique isotope tagstrings into each of the data packets transmitted by the firsttechnology application for performing the first technology activity ofthe one or more technology activities.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, identifying, by the RPA isotope tagging application, thefirst data packet associated with the first technology activity of thefirst technology application, further comprises: identifying that thefirst technology activity is initiated by the first technologyapplication at the source network node; identifying a first sequence ofdata packets associated with the first technology activity that areconfigured to be transmitted from the source network node; identify thefirst data packet of the first sequence of data packets based onanalyzing a packet sequence number in the header element of the firstdata packet; insert the first unique isotope tag string in at least oneof the header element, the payload element, and the trailer element ofthe first data packet prior to transmission from the source networknode, wherein the first unique isotope tag string comprises: a firstisotope portion comprising a unique identifier of the first technologyapplication; a second isotope portion comprising a unique identifier ofthe first technology activity; and a third isotope portion comprisingthe packet sequence number of the first data packet.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, the RPA isotope tagging application is further configuredto: identify that an auxiliary technology activity is initiated by thefirst technology application at the source network node; identifying anauxiliary sequence of data packets associated with the auxiliarytechnology activity that are structured to be transmitted from thesource network node; identify a third data packet of the auxiliarysequence of data packets based on analyzing a packet sequence number inthe header element of the third data packet; insert a third uniqueisotope tag string in at least one of the header element, a payloadelement, and a trailer element of the third data packet prior totransmission from the source network node, wherein the third uniqueisotope tag string comprises: a first isotope portion comprising theunique identifier of the first technology application; a second isotopeportion comprising an auxiliary unique identifier of the auxiliarytechnology activity; and a third isotope portion comprising the packetsequence number of the auxiliary data packet.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, identifying, by the RPA isotope tagging application, thefirst data packet associated with the first technology activity of thefirst technology application, further comprises: receiving, from aninput device, a user request to test the first technology activity ofthe first technology application; transmitting a activation controlinstruction structured for activating the first technology applicationat the source network node; transmitting an activity control instructionstructured for causing the first technology application to perform thefirst technology activity, wherein transmitting the activity controlinstruction comprises transmitting, to the first technology applicationfirst technology activity input using controls of an input device of thesource network node; identifying the first data packet of a firstsequence of data packets associated with the first technology activitythat is configured to be transmitted from the source network node;insert the first unique isotope tag string in at least one of the headerelement, the payload element, and the trailer element of the first datapacket prior to transmission from the source network node.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, transmitting, by the RPA isotope tagging application, theactivity control instruction structured for causing the first technologyapplication to perform the first technology activity further comprises:identify a first input data portion to be provided at first interface ofthe first technology application for performing the first technologyactivity at the source network node; identify an input device of aplurality of input devices of the source network node that is associatedwith the first input data portion; identify an input signal formatassociated with the input device; transform the first input data portioninto the input signal format associated with the input device; andtransmit, to the first technology application, input device controlsignals for the first input data in the input signal format for causingthe first technology application to perform the first technologyactivity.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, tracking, by the RPA isotope tagging application,application flow of the first technology application within the networkdata flow of the plurality of applications of the entity communicationnetwork, further comprises: identifying the one or more intermediatenetwork nodes that are associated with transmitting the first datapacket from the source network node to the destination network nodebased on identifying a network transmission path; identifying, at eachof path network nodes of the plurality of network nodes one or moreincoming data packets, wherein the path network nodes of the pluralityof network nodes comprise the one or more intermediate network nodes,the destination network node and the source network node; parsing, at afirst network node of path network nodes, each of the one or moreincoming data packets to identify a unique isotope tag string of thedata packet; based on identifying that the unique isotope tag string ofa first incoming data packet of the one or more incoming data packets atthe first network node of path network nodes matches the first uniqueisotope tag string, determining that the current location of the firstdata packet is the first network node of path network nodes.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, identifying, by the RPA isotope tagging application, thatthe unique isotope tag string of the first incoming data packet of theone or more incoming data packets at the first network node of pathnetwork nodes matches the first unique isotope tag string, furthercomprises: identifying that (i) a first isotope portion of the uniqueisotope tag string of the first incoming data packet matches a uniqueidentifier of the identifier of the first technology application, and(ii) a second isotope portion of the unique isotope tag string of thefirst incoming data packet matches a unique identifier of the firsttechnology activity.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, presenting, by the RPA isotope tagging application, thecurrent location of the first data packet in the application trackinguser interface, further comprises: identifying the one or moreintermediate network nodes that are associated with transmitting thefirst data packet from the source network node to the destinationnetwork node based on identifying a network transmission path;constructing a graphical representation of at least a portion of thenetwork architecture of the entity communication network comprising atleast the source network node, the destination network node and the oneor more intermediate network nodes; presenting the graphicalrepresentation of the at least a portion of the network architecture ona display device, wherein presenting comprises overlaying a graphicalpath element associated with the network transmission path on thegraphical representation of the at least a portion of the networkarchitecture; and overlaying a data packet element associated with thefirst data packet, proximate a representation of a first network nodeassociated with the current location of the first data packet on thegraphical representation of the at least a portion of the networkarchitecture.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, the RPA isotope tagging application is further configuredto: identify that the current location of the first data packet haschanged from the first network node to subsequent second network nodeassociated with the network transmission path; and modify, in real time,a spatial position of the data packet element associated with the firstdata packet such that the data packet element is proximate arepresentation of a second network node on the graphical representationof the at least a portion of the network architecture.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, determining the network architecture of the entitycommunication network by the RPA control application further comprisesidentifying data communication links between the plurality of nodes andunique network addresses of the plurality of network nodes for operativecommunication using the data communication links.

In another embodiment, and in combination with any of the previousembodiments, determining the network architecture of the entitycommunication network by the RPA control application, further comprises:identifying a physical layer of the network architecture of the entitycommunication network, comprising identifying networking hardwaretransmission protocols for transmission of bit streams physical links ofthe data communication links between the plurality of nodes; identifyinga data link layer of the network architecture of the entitycommunication network, comprising identifying networking transmissionprotocols for frame synchronization, logical link control and mediaaccess control associated with the data communication links between theplurality of nodes, wherein identifying the data link layer comprisesidentifying media access control (MAC) addresses of at least a portionof the plurality of nodes; identifying a network layer of the networkarchitecture of the entity communication network, comprising identifyingdata packet forwarding and routing protocols associated with the datacommunication links between the plurality of nodes, wherein identifyingthe network layer comprises identifying internet protocol (IP) addressesof at least a portion of the plurality of nodes; and identifying atransport layer of the network architecture of the entity communicationnetwork, comprising identifying host-to-host communication protocols fortechnology applications associated with at least a portion of theplurality of nodes.

The features, functions, and advantages that have been discussed may beachieved independently in various embodiments of the present inventionor may be combined with yet other embodiments, further details of whichcan be seen with reference to the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms,reference will now be made the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a system environment 100 individual application flowisotope tagging within an entity network infrastructure, in accordancewith an aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts an entity communication network environment 200, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic user device and high level process flow 300for converting the user device into a virtual workstation in accordancewith an aspect of the invention.

FIG. 4 schematically depicts a high level robotic process automationconfiguration application interface 400, in accordance with an aspect ofthe invention;

FIG. 5 schematically depicts a high level process flow 500 forindividual application flow isotope tagging within a networkinfrastructure, in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 6 schematically depicts a high level process flow 600 forindividual application flow isotope tagging within a networkinfrastructure, in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 7A illustrates a schematic representation 700A of a data packet, inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7B illustrates a schematic representation 700B of a data packet, inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 8A illustrates a schematic representation 800A of a real-timeapplication tracking user interface, in accordance with some embodimentsof the invention;

FIG. 8B illustrates a detail view 800B of the real-time applicationtracking user interface of FIG. 8A, in accordance with some embodimentsof the invention; and

FIG. 8C illustrates a schematic representation 800C of a real-timeapplication tracking user interface, in accordance with some embodimentsof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, theinvention may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Where possible, any terms expressed in the singularform herein are meant to also include the plural form and vice versa,unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “a”and/or “an” shall mean “one or more,” even though the phrase “one ormore” is also used herein. Furthermore, when it is said herein thatsomething is “based on” something else, it may be based on one or moreother things as well. In other words, unless expressly indicatedotherwise, as used herein “based on” means “based at least in part on”or “based at least partially on.” Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

In some embodiments, an “entity” as used herein may be an organization,a company, a group, an institution, a society, an association, anestablishment or the like, (e.g., a financial institution, a businessconcern, a merchant organization, etc.). For the purposes of thisinvention, a “financial institution” may be defined as any organization,entity, or the like in the business of moving, investing, or lendingmoney, dealing in financial instruments, or providing financialservices. This may include commercial banks, thrifts, federal and statesavings banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, investmentcompanies, insurance companies and the like. In some embodiments, theentity may allow a user to establish an account with the entity. An“account” may be the relationship that the user has with the entity.Examples of accounts include a deposit account, such as a transactionalaccount (e.g., a banking account), a savings account, an investmentaccount, a money market account, a time deposit, a demand deposit, apre-paid account, a credit account, a non-monetary user information, orthe like. The account is associated with and/or maintained by an entity.In other embodiments, an “entity” may not be a financial institution.

Unless specifically limited by the context, a “user activity”,“transaction” or “activity” refers to any communication between the userand a financial institution or another entity. In some embodiments, forexample, a user activity may refer to a purchase of goods or services, areturn of goods or services, a payment transaction, a credittransaction, or other interaction involving a user's bank account. Asanother example, in some embodiments, a user activity may refer toviewing account balances, modifying user information and contactinformation associated with an account, modifying alert/notificationpreferences, viewing transaction/activity history,transferring/redeeming loyalty points and the like. In some embodiments,the user activity is associated with an entity application stored on auser device, for example, a digital wallet application, a mobile/onlinebanking application, a merchant application, a browser application, asocial media application and the like. Typically, a user activity is anelectronic transaction or electronic activity in which the user isemploying a mobile device, computing device, or other electronic deviceto initiate, execute and/or complete the activity.

As used herein, a “bank account” refers to a credit account, adebit/deposit account, or the like. Although the phrase “bank account”includes the term “bank,” the account need not be maintained by a bankand may, instead, be maintained by other financial institutions. Forexample, in the context of a financial institution, a user activity ortransaction may refer to one or more of a sale of goods and/or services,an account balance inquiry, a rewards transfer, an account moneytransfer, opening a bank application on a user's computer or mobiledevice, a user accessing their e-wallet (e.g., mobile wallet) or onlinebanking account or any other interaction involving the user and/or theuser's device that is detectable by the financial institution. Asfurther examples, a user activity may occur when an entity associatedwith the user is alerted via the transaction of the user's location. Auser activity may occur when a user accesses a building or a dwelling,uses a rewards card, and/or performs an account balance query. A useractivity may occur as a user's device establishes a wireless connection,such as a Wi-Fi connection, with a point-of-sale terminal. In someembodiments, a user activity may include one or more of the following:purchasing, renting, selling, and/or leasing goods and/or services(e.g., groceries, stamps, tickets, DVDs, vending machine items, and thelike); withdrawing cash; making payments (e.g., paying monthly bills;paying federal, state, and/or local taxes; and the like); sendingremittances; transferring balances from one account to another account;loading money onto stored value cards (SVCs) and/or prepaid cards;donating to charities; and/or the like.

As used herein, an “online banking account” is an account that isassociated with one or more user accounts at a financial institution.For example, the user may have an online banking account that isassociated with the user's checking account, savings account, investmentaccount, and/or credit account at a particular financial institution.Authentication credentials comprising a username and password aretypically associated with the online banking account and can be used bythe user to gain access to the online banking account. The onlinebanking account may be accessed by the user over a network (e.g., theInternet) via a computer device, such as a personal computer, laptop, ormobile device (e.g., a smartphone or tablet). The online banking accountmay be accessed by the user via a mobile or online banking website orvia a mobile or online banking application. A customer may access anonline banking account to view account balances, view transactionhistory, view statements, transfer funds, and pay bills. More than oneuser may have access to the same online banking account. In this regard,each user may have a different username and password. Accordingly, oneor more users may have a sub-account associated with the online bankingaccount.

A “user” may be an individual or group of individuals associated with anentity that provides the system for assessing network authenticationrequirements based on situational instance. In some embodiments, the“user” may be a financial institution user (e.g., an account holder or aperson who has an account (e.g., banking account, credit account, or thelike)). In one aspect, a user may be any financial institution userseeking to perform user activities associated with the financialinstitution or any other affiliate entities associated with thefinancial institution. In some embodiments, the user may be anindividual who may be interested in opening an account with thefinancial institution. In some other embodiments, a user may be anyindividual who may be interested in the authentication features offeredby the financial institution/entity. In some embodiments, a “user” maybe a financial institution employee (e.g., an underwriter, a projectmanager, an IT specialist, a manager, an administrator, an internaloperations analyst, bank teller or the like) capable of operating thesystem described herein. For purposes of this invention, the term “user”and “customer” may be used interchangeably.

“Robotic process automation” or “RPA” as used herein may refer to theautomation of high-volume processes using bots.

“Robotic Process Automation Application,” “RPA Bot” or “Bot” as usedherein may refer to a dedicated infinitely customizable softwareapplication, typically configured for a dedicated workstation thatperforms automated tasks. In particular, a plurality of bots may be usedby an entity to perform various functions for high-volume applicationsthat relate to the entity's objectives to utilized existing third partyapplications and their interfaces, even if access to their datalayer/application layer code is not available. Typically, a bot will beconfigured to repeatedly perform a specific task. Each bot may beconfigured to utilize particular protocols and be compatible withparticular platforms and applications. In some embodiments, a bot may beconfigured to execute its tasks by interacting with other applicationswithin the entity's systems at the interface level (i.e. by providinginputs to the interfaces of the other applications).

With advancements in technology infrastructures and wirelesscommunication implementation, entities increasingly employ variousnetwork architectures comprising modems, hubs, switches, routers, loadbalancers, network hosts, servers, proxy servers, input/output devices,network terminals and computers and the like. Typically, the devices inthe network architecture run a plurality of technology applications forfacilitating and performing a myriad of tasks and activities associatedwith the entity. These technology applications generate vast volumes ofdata flow across the network nodes. However, with existing networkarchitectures, it is not possible to track data flows across the networknodes that are associated with a particular technology application,without which functioning of technology applications cannot be evaluatedand mitigation steps cannot be implemented. There present inventionprovides a novel method of unique isotope tagging of individual datapackets associated with each technology application, that are thenleveraged to identify, precisely and in real time, not only data flowsassociated with individual technology applications, but also theparticular activity or task component that they are associated with.

The present invention provides a solution to the foregoing problems byproviding individual application flow isotope tagging within a networkinfrastructure. However, one technical problem encountered forimplementing this solution is that these existing technologyapplications for running technology activities associated with theentity are typically operated via user interfaces for receiving input,and the internal code of these existing applications on the user device,especially third-party applications, does not lend themselves forautomated operation by external applications. Even if it were possible,automatic execution of input commands to an existing user interfacewould entail an extremely time consuming and expenditure intensiveconversion of the internal code of the user interface of the user deviceapplication into a machine-to-machine form of data layer communicationand creation of a new program to perform the functions, and wouldrequire immense in-depth technical skill and knowledge of applicationprogramming for a specialist operator of an entity to code theconversion application. The present invention solves this technicalproblem by utilizing the user interfaces of the existing userapplications themselves, which are readily available to the user byassuming controls of input devices, without requiring the non-feasibleand time intensive coding of a new machine-to-machine form program. Thepresent invention is configured to automatically execute input functionsof the user interface of the existing application using the controls ofthe user input devices for inserting unique isotope tag strings datapackets prior to transmission by the technology application andsubsequently tracking application flow of the particular technologyactivity being performed by the first technology application, withinnetwork data flow of a plurality of applications of the entitycommunication network.

In addition, in another aspect, the present invention allows forextremely quick and easy structuring of an infinitely customizablerobotic process automation (RPA) application for utilizing controls ofthe user input devices. This RPA application can be configured by anindividual associated with an entity or the user, using an intuitiveinterface, without requiring technical expertise. Hence, the presentinvention is structured to operate existing user interfaces of existinguser device applications, even if the device is not being operated uponby the user, individual application flow isotope tagging within anetwork infrastructure in real-time. As discussed, embodiments of thepresent invention address the above needs and/or achieve otheradvantages by providing apparatuses (e.g., a system, computer programproduct and/or other devices) and methods for individual applicationflow isotope tagging within a network infrastructure, as will bedescribed in detail below.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system environment 100 for individual applicationflow isotope tagging within an entity network infrastructure, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 providesa unique system that includes specialized servers and systems,communicably linked across a distributive network of nodes required toperform the functions of testing data transmission characteristics ofthe entity communication network and evaluating data flows associated inindividual applications, in real-time or near real-time. As illustratedin FIG. 1, a robotic process automation (RPA) system 105 (also referredto as the device 105, the system 105 or “the RPA system” in someinstances) is operatively coupled, via a network 101 to the usersystem(s) 104 (e.g., a plurality of user devices 104 a-104 d), to theprocessing system 106 (also referred to as a control system 106) and toa plurality of other network nodes. In this way, the robotic processautomation system 105 can send information to and receive informationfrom the user device(s) 104, the processing system 106 (e.g., afinancial institution server) and the plurality of network nodes 180.FIG. 1 illustrates only one example of an embodiment of the systemenvironment 100, and it will be appreciated that in other embodimentsone or more of the systems, devices, or servers may be combined into asingle system, device, or server, or be made up of multiple systems,devices, or servers.

The network 101 may be a system specific distributive network receivingand distributing specific network feeds and structured for facilitatingdata flows associated with activities and tasks associated with theentity. The network 101 may also be a global area network (GAN), such asthe Internet (301, illustrated in FIG. 2), a wide area network (WAN), alocal area network (LAN), or any other type of network or combination ofnetworks. The network 101 may provide for wireline, wireless, or acombination wireline and wireless communication between devices on thenetwork 101. In some embodiments, the network 101 may enablecommunication between devices thorough near-field communication,transmission of electromagnetic waves, sound waves, light waves or anyother suitable means. In some embodiments, at least a portion of thenetwork 101 is an entity communication network 200 associated with theentity, illustrated in FIG. 2.

In some embodiments, the robotic process automation system 105 and theplurality of network nodes 180, together with the processing system 106and/or one or more of the user devices 104, constitute the entitycommunication network 200, each forming a network node of the entitycommunication network 200. That said, in other embodiments, it isenvisaged that the entity communication network 200 comprises theplurality of network nodes 180 which interact with the robotic processautomation system 105, the processing system 106 and/or one or more ofthe user devices 104 that are external to the entity communicationnetwork 200. Typically, the network nodes (e.g., the network nodes 180,the RPA system 105, the processing system 106, and/or the user device(s)104) of the entity communication network 200 comprise operativecommunication channels for communicating with each other, in accordancewith the network architecture of the entity communication network, aswill be described with respect to FIG. 2. The operative transformationof the inherent functions of a network node (e.g., RPA system 105, userdevice 104 etc.) for converting the network node (e.g., RPA system 105,user device 104 etc.) into a virtual workstation by the presentinvention (via the processing system 106) is described with respect toFIG. 3, later on.

In some embodiments, the user 102 is an individual that has, owns or isotherwise associated with one or more user devices 104, and typically aplurality of user devices 104, that facilitate/allow the user to performone or more user activities. The user devices typically comprise one ormore of a smart phone 104 a, a laptop or desktop computer 104 b, amobile phone or a personal digital assistant 104 d, a tablet device 104c, wearable smart devices, smart television devices, home controllers,smart speakers, and/or other computing devices. In some embodiments, theuser may be associated with a first user device (e.g., the tablet device104 c, a laptop or desktop computer 104 b, or another smart/computingdevice) and a second user device (e.g., the smart phone 104 a, or any ofthe user devices listed above).

FIG. 1 also illustrates a representative user system/device 104. Asdiscussed, the user device(s) 104 may be, for example, a desktoppersonal computer, a mobile system, such as a cellular phone, smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), laptop, or the like, and eachof the user devices (e.g., devices 104 a-104 d) may comprise thetechnical/electronic components described herein. The user device(s) 104generally comprises a communication device 112, a processing device 114,a memory device 116, input device(s) 108 and output device(s) 105. Theuser device 104 may comprise other devices that are not illustrated,configured for location determination/navigation (GPS devices,accelerometers and other positioning/navigation devices), forauthentication (fingerprint scanners, microphones, iris scanners, facialrecognition devices/software and the like), for image capture (cameras,AR devices, and the like), for display (screens, hologram projectors andthe like), and other purposes. The user device 104 is a computing systemthat enables the user to perform one or more user activities or tasksassociated with the entity. The processing device 114 is operativelycoupled to the communication device 112, input device(s) 108 (e.g.,keypads/keyboards 108 a, touch screens 108 b, mouse/pointing devices 108c, gesture/speech recognition sensors/devices, microphones, joysticks,authentication credential capture devices listed above, image capturedevices, and other peripheral input devices), output device(s) 110(screens 110 a-110 b, speakers, printers and other peripheral outputdevices) and other devices/components of the user device. The processingdevice 114 uses the communication device 112 to communicate with thenetwork 101 and other devices on the network 101, such as, but notlimited to the processing system 106, the RPA system 105 and the networknodes 180. As such, the communication device 112 generally comprises amodem, server, or other device for communicating with other devices onthe network 101.

Each user device 104 a-104 d, typically comprises one or more user inputdevices 108, that are configured to receive instructions, commands,data, authentication credentials, audio/visual input and other forms ofuser input from the user, and transmit the received user input to theprocessing device 114 of the user device for processing. Similarly, eachuser device 104 a-104 d, typically comprises one or more user outputdevices 110, that are configured to transmit, display (e.g., via agraphical user interface), present, provide or otherwise convey an useroutput to the user, based on instructions from the processing device 114of the user device. In some embodiments, the one or more user inputdevices 108 and/or one or more user output devices 110 are dual-functiondevices that are configured to both receive user input from the user anddisplay output to the user (e.g., a touch screen display of a displaydevice). For example, the dual function input devices 108 and/or theoutput devices 110 may present a user interface associated with one ormore user device applications 112 (e.g., a graphical user interface)that is configured to receive user input and also provide user output.

The user device 104 comprises computer-readable instructions 120 anddata storage 118 stored in the memory device 116, which in oneembodiment includes the computer-readable instructions 120 of one ormore user applications 122 (e.g., technology applications such asoperating system applications, device applications, third partyapplications, browser applications, network applications, and the like)that facilitate performance of one or more activities associated withthe entity. In some embodiments, the first device application of the oneor more user applications 122 refers to an application stored on theuser device that is configured to receive user instructions/input via anassociated first user interface, and in accordance with the user inputperform one or more tasks or activities and associated steps (e.g.,requesting information, retrieving/receiving information, performsearches, query other applications/servers, and/or the like) whose dataflow through the network is desired to be evaluated in real-time or nearreal-time. For example, the first technology application may bestructured to perform a first type of network activity (e.g., Websitefront end activities, entity logic middleware activities, server-lessactivities, Queueing activities, Caching activities, Databaseactivities, DNS, Proxy, Firewall and other activities) associated withthe entity.

As discussed, in some embodiments, the user device 104 may refer tomultiple user devices that may be configured to communicate with the RPAsystem via the network 101. In some embodiment, the robotic processautomation system 105, the processing system and/or the network nodes180 may transmit control signals to the user device, configured to causethe technology application 122 to perform one or more functions or stepsassociated with testing data transmission characteristics of the entitycommunication network and evaluating data flows associated in individualapplications, in real-time or near real-time.

As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the robotic process automation system105 (also referred to as the RPA system 105) generally comprises acommunication device 166, at least one processing device 168, and amemory device 170. As used herein, the term “processing device” or“processor” (e.g., processing devices 114, 138, 168 and 148) generallyincludes circuitry used for implementing the communication and/or logicfunctions of the particular system. For example, a processing device mayinclude a digital signal processor device, a microprocessor device, andvarious analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, andother support circuits and/or combinations of the foregoing. Control andsignal processing functions of the system are allocated between theseprocessing devices according to their respective capabilities. Theprocessing device may include functionality to operate one or moresoftware programs based on computer-readable instructions thereof, whichmay be stored in a memory device.

The processing device 168 is operatively coupled to the communicationdevice 166 and the memory device 170. The processing device 168 uses thecommunication device 166 to communicate with the network 101 and otherdevices on the network 101, such as, but not limited to the processingsystem 106, the user system 104 and the network nodes 180. As such, thecommunication device 166 (and/or communication devices 112, 136, and146) generally comprises a modem, server, or other device forcommunicating with other devices on the network 101.

As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the robotic process automation system105 comprises computer-readable instructions 172 stored in the memorydevice 170, which in one embodiment includes the computer-readableinstructions 172 of a robotic process automation application 174 (alsoreferred to as an RPA application), typically structured and configuredby the processing system 106. In some embodiments, the memory device 170includes data storage 171 (not illustrated) for storing data related tothe system environment, but not limited to data created and/or used bythe robotic process automation application 174. In some embodiments, therobotic process automation application 174 is configured for testingdata transmission characteristics of the entity communication networkand evaluating data flows associated in individual applications, inreal-time or near real-time, by the processing system application 144(also referred to as the RPA control application) of the processingsystem 106 (also referred to as a control system 106). Specifically,executing computer readable instructions of 172 of the RPA application174 is configured to cause processing device 168 to transmit certaincontrol instructions to the one or more network nodes to cause theirrespective processing devices to carry out one or more steps describedherein (e.g., with respect to FIGS. 4-5). Here, the processing systemapplication 144 (also referred to as the RPA control application) of theprocessing/control system 106 is structured to configure a configure arobotic process automation application 174 for testing data transmissioncharacteristics of the entity communication network and evaluating dataflows associated in individual applications, in real-time or nearreal-time by converting the RPA system 105 (or another network node)into a virtual workstation, among other steps described herein. Therobotic process automation configuration system 105 may communicate withthe processing/control system 106, the user device 104, the networknodes 180, merchant systems and other third party systems (notillustrated) to perform one or more steps described herein, and/or causethese systems to perform one or more of these steps, at least in part.

In some embodiments, the robotic process automation configurationapplication 172 may control the functioning of the user device 104and/or other network nodes 180. In some embodiments, the robotic processautomation application 174 comprises computer readable instructions 172or computer-readable program code, the when executed by the processingdevice 168, causes the processing device to perform one or more stepsinvolved in individual application flow isotope tagging and/or totransmit control instructions to other systems and devices to cause thesystems and devices to perform specific tasks. In some embodiments, theRPA system 105 and the processing system 106 may be embodied in the samesystem, or alternatively, the RPA system 105 and the processing system106 may be separate systems as illustrated by FIG. 1.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the processing system 106 or controlsystem 106 (also referred to as a entity system or a financialinstitution system 106) is connected to the RPA system 105 and thenetwork nodes 180 and is associated with an entity network, and is anoverarching system that is structured to configure the RPA application174 for converting the RPA system 105 into a dedicated workstation. Inthis way, while only one processing system 106 is illustrated in FIG. 1,it is understood that multiple network systems may make up the systemenvironment 100. The processing system 106 generally comprises acommunication device 136, a processing device 138, and a memory device140. The processing system 106 comprises computer-readable instructions142 stored in the memory device 140, which in one embodiment includesthe computer-readable instructions 142 of a processing systemapplication 144 (also referred to as the RPA control application). Thesedevices are similar in structure and functions as those described above.The processing system 106 may communicate with an authentication system107 (not illustrated) to provide authentication credentials for useractivities.

It is understood that the servers, systems, and devices described hereinillustrate one embodiment of the invention. It is further understoodthat one or more of the servers, systems, and devices can be combined inother embodiments and still function in the same or similar way as theembodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an entity communication network environment 200, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As discussed,in some embodiments, the robotic process automation system 105 and theplurality of network nodes 180, together with the processing system 106and/or one or more of the user devices 104, constitute the entitycommunication network 200, each forming a network node of the entitycommunication network 200. That said, in other embodiments, it isenvisaged that the entity communication network 200 comprises theplurality of network nodes 180 which interact with the robotic processautomation system 105, the processing system 106 and/or one or more ofthe user devices 104 that are external to the entity communicationnetwork 200. Typically, the network nodes (e.g., the network nodes 180,the RPA system 105, the processing system 106, and/or the user device(s)104) of the entity communication network 200 comprise operativecommunication channels for communicating with each other, in accordancewith the network architecture of the entity communication network. Insome embodiments, the entity communication network 200 has network nodescomprising physical nodes/devices and/or virtual nodes such as software(e.g., for routing, switching and other data flow operations), such thatat least a portion of the network 200 is virtualized with software. Insome embodiments, the entity communication network 200 comprises a cloudcomputing network.

As illustrated by FIG. 2, the entity communication network 200 comprisesa plurality of nodes (e.g., 205 to 266). Some or all of the nodes205-266 described herein may refer to the plurality of nodes 180.Moreover, the entity communication network 200 is typically incommunication with an external communication network, such as theinternet 310 or another network 310 (e.g., an ISP network). The entitycommunication network 200 comprises a network security node 205, such asa firewall 205, that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing networktraffic based on predetermined security rules. The network security nodemay be in operative communication with one or more network nodes 210structured for modulating one or more carrier wave signals to encodedigital information for transmission and demodulating signals to decodethe transmitted information, such as modem(s) 210. The entitycommunication network 200 further comprises one or more network nodes215 that are configured for traffic routing and data packet forwarding,such as router(s) 215. The router node 215 may be in operativecommunication with other network nodes such as, access point node(s) 230(e.g., wireless access point 230), proxy servers, switches (240, 250),server systems 220 (e.g., processing system 106, RPA system 105, etc.),and the like. The wireless access point 230, typically is a networkinghardware device that allows Wi-Fi or NFC compatible data terminalequipment devices (DTEs) or computing devices 236 a-236 c (e.g., userdevices 104 such as computers, smartphones, PDAs, smart devices, etc.)to connect to a wired network. The server systems 220 (e.g., processingsystem 106, RPA system 105, etc.) may be in operative communication withdatabase systems or database server nodes 222.

The network switch nodes (240, 250) (also called switching hubs,bridging hubs, or MAC bridges) are computer network devices/nodes thatconnect other devices/nodes of the network together, by using packetswitching to receive, process and forward data to a destinationdevice/node. In some embodiments, the network switch nodes (240, 250)are multi-port network bridges that use unique network hardwareaddresses (e.g., MAC addresses of the devices/nodes such as the dataterminal equipment devices) to process and forward data at a data linklayer (described later on) of the entity communication network 200. Insome embodiments, the network switch nodes (240, 250) are multilayerswitches that also process data at a network layer by additionallyincorporating routing functionality. As illustrated by FIG. 2, thenetwork switch 240 may connect other data terminal equipment (DTEs)devices/nodes such as server devices 242 (e.g., processing system 106,RPA system 105 etc.) and a hub 244 which in turn connects nodes such as246 a-246 d (e.g., processing system 106, RPA system 105, user devices104, other DTEs etc.). The hub 244 may be an Ethernet hub, active hub,network hub, repeater hub, multiport repeater or another network switch.The network switch 250 may connect network nodes such as a server 256 a,a proxy server 256 b, a computing device 256 c, etc. The computingdevice 256 c may in turn be operatively connected to other nodes such asa printer terminal 258 and a network bridge 260. The network bridge 260is a computer networking device that creates a single aggregate networkfrom multiple communication networks or network segments, such as thenodes 266 a-b (e.g., computing devices or other DTEs) and the node 266 c(e.g., a server or other DTEs), as illustrated. The entity communicationnetwork 200 may further comprise one or more load balancers (notillustrated).

As such, the entity communication network 200 comprises a plurality ofnodes such as one or more of: one or more modems, one or more hubs, oneor more switches, one or more routers, one or more load balancers, andone or more data terminal equipment devices, cloud service virtualmachines, VPN Gateways, traffic manager nodes, SQL servers, etc., asdesired, in any suitable configuration and arrangement. The DTEstypically comprise unique network addresses (e.g., hardware addressessuch as media access control (MAC) addresses, network addresses such asinternet protocol (IP) addresses), such as server devices, proxyservers, one or more computing devices, one or more data output devices,and/or one or more network hosts. Moreover, in some embodiments, thenetwork nodes and connections/communication channels between the nodesmay change, due to expansion, modification or maintenance of thenetworks. The system (e.g., the processing/control system 106) isconfigured to identify the current configuration of the entitycommunication network 200's network architecture, i.e., the plurality ofnetwork nodes of the entity communication network and theircommunication channels and protocols.

In some embodiments, determining the network architecture of the entitycommunication network by the RPA control application by theprocessing/control system 106 further comprises identifying datacommunication links between the plurality of nodes and unique networkaddresses (e.g., hardware addresses such as media access control (MAC)addresses, network addresses such as internet protocol (IP) addresses)of the plurality of network nodes required/utilized for operativecommunication using the data communication links. Here, in someembodiments, the processing/control system 106 is structured to identifya physical layer, a data link layer, a network layer, a transport layer,a session layer, a presentation layer and/or an application layer of thenetwork architecture.

The physical layer is typically associated with transfer of bits betweentwo network nodes involving nodes such as repeaters, hubs, modems, fibermedia converters and the like. The physical layer defines the electricaland physical specifications of the data connection and defines therelationship between a device and a physical transmission medium (forexample, an electrical cable, an optical fiber cable, or a radiofrequency link). This includes the layout of pins, voltages, lineimpedance, cable specifications, signal timing and similarcharacteristics for connected devices and frequency (5 GHz or 2.4 GHzetc.) for wireless devices. It is responsible for transmission andreception of unstructured raw data in a physical medium. As such,identifying the physical layer of the network architecture by thecontrol system 106 typically involves determining the above listedcomponents of the physical layer along with networking hardwaretransmission protocols for transmission of bit streams physical links ofthe data communication links between the plurality of nodes.

The data link layer typically involves interfacing with the physicallayer by providing node-to-node transfer (e.g., a link between twodirectly connected nodes) and involves network nodes such as networkswitches, network interface cards (NICs), etc., based on physicaladdressing schemes (e.g., MAC addresses). The data link layer is alsoconfigured for detection and correction of errors in the physical layerand defines protocols for establishing and terminating a connectionbetween two physically connected nodes/devices and protocols governingdata flow control between them, such as Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP),Media access control (MAC) layer protocols for data transmissionpermissions/access and flow control and Logical link control (LLC) layerprotocols for encapsulating network layer protocols and framesynchronization. Identifying the data link layer of the networkarchitecture by the control system 106, typically involves determiningthe foregoing and the networking transmission protocols for framesynchronization, logical link control and media access controlassociated with the data communication links between the plurality ofnodes. In this regard, the control system 106 typically identifies mediaaccess control (MAC) addresses of at least a portion of the plurality ofnodes (e.g., for some or all of the network nodes that contain MACaddresses).

The network layer typically is associated with data packet delivery fromend (e.g., source node) to end (intermediate or destination node) byutilizing a logical network addressing scheme such as Internet Protocol(IP) addresses, involving nodes such as routers. As such, the networklayer provides the functional and procedural means of transferringvariable length data sequences (called datagrams) from one node toanother. The network layer is structured to deliver the message to thedestination node, possibly routing it through intermediate nodes. If themessage is too large to be transmitted from one node to another on thedata link layer between those nodes, the network layer may implementmessage delivery by splitting the message into several fragments(multiple data packets) at one node, sending the fragmentsindependently, and reassembling the fragments at another node.Identifying the network layer of the network architecture by the controlsystem 106 typically involves identifying data packet forwarding androuting protocols associated with the data communication links betweenthe plurality of nodes and identifying internet protocol (IP) addressesof at least a portion of the plurality of nodes.

Moreover, the transport layer provides the functional and proceduralmeans of transferring variable-length data sequences from a source to adestination host via one or more networks, while maintaining the qualityof service functions, using a transport-layer protocol such as aTransmission Control Protocol (TCP) or a User Datagram Protocol (UDP).Identifying the transport layer of the network architecture typicallyinvolves determining host-to-host communication protocols for technologyapplications associated with at least a portion of the plurality ofnodes. The session layer is associated with establishing, managing andterminating the connections between the local and remote applications.The presentation layer establishes context between application-layerentities, in which the application-layer entities may use differentsyntax and semantics if the presentation service provides a mappingbetween them. The application layer interacts with the technologyapplications (software) that implement a communicating component,including identifying communication partners, determining resourceavailability, and synchronizing communication.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a schematic block diagram and process flow 300is provided for converting a network node into a virtual workstation, inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention. The operativetransformation of the inherent functions of a network node (e.g., RPAsystem 105) for converting the network node (e.g., RPA system 105, userdevice 104 etc.) into a virtual workstation by the present invention(via the processing application 144 (also referred to as the RPA controlapplication) of the processing/control system 106) is described withrespect to FIG. 3. Specifically, FIG. 3 illustrates the operativefunctions of a user-machine interface, peripheral hardware andsoftware/middleware components of each of the plurality of nodes, forexample, the components of the RPA system 105, the processing system106, the user device 350, or a data terminal equipment device (236 a-c,242, 246 a-d, 256 a-6, 266 a-c, etc.). Typically, such DTEs or networkhosts or computing devices comprise network node hardware components 310and network node software/middleware components 350. The hardwarecomponents 310 typically comprise input devices/peripherals 308 (e.g.,keypads/keyboards 308 a, touch screens 308 b, mouse/pointing devices 308c, gesture/speech recognition sensors/devices, microphones, joysticks,authentication credential capture devices listed above, image capturedevices, and other peripheral input devices, similar to the devices 108described previously) and output devices/peripherals (screens 310 a-310b, speakers, printers and other peripheral output devices, similar tothe devices 110 described previously), which are typically operativelycontrolled by a processing device 314 (not illustrated). The networknode hardware components 310 may further comprise integrated circuit(s)320 comprising a set of electronic circuits on a semiconductor material.In some embodiments, the integrated circuit 320 is a microprocessor 114or processor 114, while in other embodiments, the integrated circuit 320connects the input devices 308 and the output devices 310 with theprocessor 114 and/or the software components/memory of the network node.In some embodiments, the integrated circuit 320 comprises a graphicsaccelerator for presenting a graphical user interface on an outputdevice 310. The software components 350 of the network node (e.g., theuser device 104, the processing system 106, the RPA system 105, and/orthe data terminal equipment device (236 a-c, 242, 246 a-d, 256 a-6, 266a-c, etc.)) may comprise virtual memory 330 having kernel space and userspace and device applications 350 or application software 350 (e.g., oneor more technology applications) (which may be run using the kernelspace and/or user space based on the configuration of the deviceapplication).

In some embodiments, during operation of a device application 350, suchas the first technology application whose transmitted data is requiredto be tracked in real time, the user 102 may provide input to the deviceapplication 350 via the input device(s) 308, as indicated by arrow 302.This input may be relayed to the integrated circuit 320, andsubsequently processed by the device driver(s) 332 and input subsystemsof the input event interface 334 in conjunction with the deviceapplication 350, as illustrated.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the system (e.g., the RPAsystem 105) configures a robotic process automation (RPA) application174 for interacting with a user interface of the device application 350(e.g., for testing data transmission characteristics of the entitycommunication network and evaluating data flows associated in individualapplications, in real-time or near real-time). Specifically, the controlsystem 106 structures the first robotic process automation application174 to utilize controls of one or more input devices 308 of the networknode (e.g., the RPA system 105, and/or the data terminal equipmentdevice (236 a-c, 242, 246 a-d, 256 a-6, 266 a-c, etc.)) to interact withthe user interface of the device application 350 for converting thefirst network node into a virtual workstation for the first roboticprocess automation application. The control system 106 transmits andinstalls the RPA application at the memory device of the network node(e.g., the RPA system 105, and/or other suitable/compatible networknodes (236 a-c, 242, 246 a-d, 256 a-6, 266 a-c, etc.)). The RPAapplication 174 is structured to ascertain a particular input or inputdata portion to be provided to the user interface of the deviceapplication 350 for performing a particular task, e.g., a textual inputcomprising a first activity parameter, or a second activity parameter tobe specified, and subsequently transmit corresponding data packets. Insome embodiments, the RPA application 174 is structured to analyze theuser interface to identify a pertinent graphical input element that isconfigured to receive the input data portion (e.g., a text box graphicalinput element for receiving the textual input comprising the firstactivity parameter, and/or a toggle element or drop down menu graphicalinput element for selecting the second activity parameter).

Next, the RPA application 174 is structured to identify an input device308 of the plurality of input devices 308 a-308 c of the network node(e.g., the user device 104, the processing system 106, the RPA system105, and/or the data terminal equipment device (236 a-c, 242, 246 a-d,256 a-6, 266 a-c, etc.)) that is associated with the input data portion.In some instances the RPA application 174 is structured to identify theinput device, based on, at least in part, the type of graphical inputelement associated with the input data portion. For example, for thetextual input comprising the first activity parameter to be entered, thesystem may identify an input device of a keyboard/keypad (virtual orphysical) 308 a or a touch screen 308 b, based on identifyingpredetermined input devices for a textual input type, based ondetermining that the input has to be entered anew and not selected fromexisting options in the interface, and/or based on the associatedgraphical input element of the text box. As another example, for thesecond activity parameter to be selected, the system may identify aninput device of a mouse/pointing device 308 c or a touch screen 308 b,based on identifying predetermined input devices for a selection inputtype, based on identifying that the selection of the second activityparameter requires 2-D spatial selection/actuation of a graphicalelement, and/or based on the associated graphical input element of thesecond activity parameter.

In response, the RPA application 174 is structured to identify an inputsignal format associated with the input device. For example, thekeyboard/keypad (virtual or physical) 308 a or the touch screen 308 bfor a textual input type, may typically transmit the received input fromthe user to the integrated circuit(s) 320 in a first input signalformat, e.g., comprising key stroke signals or key codes or scancodesthat make up the textual input in a particular format. As anotherexample, the mouse/pointing device 308 c or a touch screen 308 b for aselection type input, may typically transmit the received input from theuser to the integrated circuit(s) 320 in a second input signal format,e.g., electronic signals corresponding to the directional and spatialmovement of the pointer/touch input in a particular format. Based onidentifying the input signal format associated with the input device,the RPA application 174 is structured to transform the input dataportion into the format of the associated input device. For example, theRPA application 174 is structured to transform the textual inputcomprising the first activity parameter first into key strokes and theninto a group of associated scancodes, and the second activity parameterto be selected into the directional and spatial movement of thepointer/touch input in correlation with the layout of the userinterface.

Next, the RPA application 174 is structured to assume the controls ofthe particular input device, and transmit the transformed input dataportion in the format of the associated input device to the integratedcircuit 320, as indicated by arrows 304 and 306. In some embodiments,the RPA application 174 is structured to utilize controls of the inputdevices by transmitting the transformed input data portion in the formatof the associated input device directly to the integrated circuit 320,as indicated by the arrow 306. In some embodiments, the RPA application174 is structured to utilize controls of the input devices by causingthe input devices to transmit the transformed input data portion in theformat of the associated input device to the integrated circuit 320, asindicated by arrow 304. As such, the RPA application 174 is structuredto assume controls of input devices and automatically execute inputfunctions of a user interface for performing one or more activities. Thepresent invention allows for extremely quick and easy structuring of theRPA application 174 using the processing system application 144 (alsoreferred to as the RPA control application) of the processing/controlsystem 106 without requiring technical expertise, as will be describedwith respect to FIG. 4.

The integrated circuit(s) 320 may process the transformed input data andrelay the data for processing at the device driver(s) 332 and inputsubsystems of the input event interface 334, where the transformed inputdata is interpreted (as an alphanumeric character or a selection/controlfunction). This interpreted input data is correlated with the userinterface and processed at the device application 350. In someembodiments, the device application 350 is configured to provide anoutput. This output may be processed by the device drivers 332 andconverted into a format associated with the appropriate output device310 and transmitted to the output device via the integrated circuit 320,as illustrated by FIG. 4.

Hence, the RPA application 174 is structured to operate existing userinterfaces of existing device applications, even if the device is notbeing operated upon by the user for testing data transmissioncharacteristics of the entity communication network and evaluating dataflows associated in individual applications, in real-time or nearreal-time. In the absence of the present invention, automatic executionof input functions of an existing user interface of an existingtechnology application is typically not possible, for testing or otherpurposes. Even if it were possible, automatic execution of inputfunctions of an existing user interface of an existing technologyapplication would entail an extremely time and expense intensiveconversion of the user interface of the technology application into amachine-to-machine form of data layer communication, and would requireimmense technical skill and knowledge of application programming.

As alluded to previously, the present invention is configured toautomatically execute input functions of the user interface of theexisting application using the controls of the user input devices fortesting data transmission characteristics of the entity communicationnetwork and evaluating data flows associated in individual applications,in real-time or near real-time, even if the device is not being operatedupon by the user. Specifically, the present invention allows forextremely quick and easy structuring of an infinitely customizablerobotic process automation (RPA) application 174 for utilizing controlsof the user input devices to perform a myriad of tasks. This RPAapplication 174 can be configured by an individual associated with anentity or the user, using an intuitive interface 144 a of the processingsystem application 144 (also referred to as the RPA controlapplication), without requiring technical expertise. Referring now toFIG. 4 illustrating a robotic process automation configuration interface144 a of the processing system application 144, in accordance with someembodiments of the invention. Specifically, FIG. 4 illustrates therobotic process automation application interface 144 a provided to anindividual associated with an entity or the user (e.g., using displaydevices of the control system 106 or the user devices 104) to facilitateconfiguration of a dedicated robotic process automation application toperform certain functions. The individual or the user may configuremultiple robotic process automation applications, each performingdedicated functions/activities, which may then be transmitted to the RPAsystem 105 from the processing/control system 106.

The RPA application interface 144 a is a graphical user interfacecomprising a robotic process automation configuration workspace window420 configured to allow the user to customize/configure the activity orfunctions process flow 450 of the robotic process automationapplication. Typically, the system (and/or the individual/user) mayidentify process steps associated with the particular activity to beperformed by the RPA application and the user interface to be operatedupon. The interface 144 a comprises an activity process step toolbox 410comprising one or more graphical function elements of various functiontypes (e.g., actuation, selection, textual input, graphicalmanipulation, control functions, and the like). The interface 144 afurther comprises process attribute customization/initialization tool(s)430 for providing process attributes for each of the process steps ofthe constructed process flow 450.

As discussed, the control system 106 (and/or the individual/user) mayidentify one or more process steps for interacting with a user interfaceof an application desired to be acted upon (e.g., the first userinterface of the first device application). The control system 106 maythen present the robotic process automation (RPA) application interface144 a to the user/individual (e.g., using display device of the controlsystem 106 or the user devices 104). As discussed, the robotic processautomation application interface 144 a comprises one or more graphicalfunction elements (410) associated with the one or more process steps.The interface 144 a is structured to allow the user to configure aprocess flow, at least in part (e.g., for testing data transmissioncharacteristics of the entity communication network and evaluating dataflows associated in individual applications, in real-time or nearreal-time) by physically moving (e.g., dragging and dropping), using aninput device (e.g., a mouse/pointer device or a touch screen) the one ormore graphical function elements from first 2-D location coordinates ofthe RPA application interface (e.g., from the activity process steptoolbox 410) to second 2-D location coordinates of the RPA applicationinterface (e.g., to the RPA configuration workspace 420). The user mayarrange the graphical function elements, each indicating a process step,in a suitable arrangement to construct the process flow 450. Theinterface 144 a may allow the user to provide, for each of the one ormore graphical elements, process attributes (e.g., using the processattribute customization/initialization tool(s) 430). The control system106 may then construct the first robotic process automation 174 based onthe configured process flow and the process attributes received from theuser, transmit the RPA application 174 to the RPA system (or to anotherdesired network node) and/or commence the application 174.

FIG. 5 illustrates a high level process flow 500 for individualapplication flow isotope tagging within a network infrastructure, inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention. In particular, thehigh level process flow 500 illustrates structuring a robotic processautomation isotope tagging application for evaluating/testing datatransmission characteristics of the entity communication network andevaluating data flows associated in individual applications, inreal-time or near real-time, by converting the RPA system 105 into adedicated virtual workstation. These steps are typically performed byprocessor 138 (also referred to as the first processor) of the controlsystem 106 based on executing computer readable/executableinstructions/code of the processing system/control application 144 (alsoreferred to as the RPA control application).

As illustrated by block 502, the system may establish operativecommunication links with the plurality of network nodes of the entitycommunication network 200 to ascertain current or most recent thenetwork architecture/configuration. As such, the control system 106 isstructured to identify the plurality of network nodes of the entitycommunication network. The determination of the plurality of networknodes and the network architecture of the entity communication networkand the various component/protocols of the network architecture (e.g., aphysical layer, a data link layer, a network layer, a transport layer,etc.) is described in detail with respect to FIG. 2. As discussedpreviously, the plurality of network nodes typically comprise one ormore modems, one or more hubs, one or more switches, one or morerouters, one or more load balancers, and one or more data terminalequipment devices. Moreover, the one or more data terminal equipmentdevices of the entity communication network may comprise one or more ofserver devices, proxy servers, one or more computing devices, one ormore data output devices, and/or one or more network hosts havingcorresponding unique network addresses.

Next, the system configures a robotic process automation (RPA) isotopetagging application (e.g., RPA application 174) for tagging, trackingand evaluating data flow associated with a particular technologyapplication based on the determined network architecture, as illustratedby block 504. In this regard, the control system 106 via the controlapplication 144 typically identifies a plurality of source technologyapplications run by the source network node, and configures the RPAisotope tagging application 174 in accordance with the protocols of saidtechnology applications. Moreover, the control system 106 identifies oneor more technology activities performed by each of the identifiedtechnology applications (e.g., the first technology application) thatare associated with transmission of data packets between at least aportion of the plurality of network nodes of the entity communicationnetwork. For example, the system may determine which of the activitiesinvolve transmitting or receiving data from the network and disregardinternal devices activities that do not require transmitting orreceiving data external to the source network node/device, via thenetwork. Next, the system structures the RPA isotope tagging applicationfor inserting unique isotope tag strings into each of the data packetstransmitted by the technology applications (e.g., first technologyapplication) for performing the first technology activity (e.g., Websitefront end activities, entity logic middleware activities, server-lessactivities, Queueing activities, Caching activities, Databaseactivities, DNS, Proxy, Firewall and other activities) of the one ormore technology activities, in accordance with the configuration of saidtechnology application.

As described with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4 previously, in someembodiments, the control system 106 configures the RPA isotope taggingapplication for tagging and tracking data flow associated with the firsttechnology application by structuring the RPA isotope taggingapplication to utilize controls of an input device of the RPA device tointeract with a first interface of the first technology application forconverting the RPA device into a virtual workstation for the RPA isotopetagging application.

Subsequently, the control system 106 may then transmit the RPA isotopetagging application 174 to the RPA system 105, via a first operativecommunication link between the devices, as illustrated by block 506. Insome instances, the control system 106 causes the RPA system 105 tostore and install the RPA isotope tagging application 174. In someembodiments, the control system 106 transmits a first control signal,via the first operative communication link, to the RPA isotope taggingapplication 174, at block 508. This first control signal is structuredto cause the first robotic process automation application to initiatethe tagging and tracking of the data flow associated with the technologyapplication, as will be described below with respect to FIG. 6. Thecontrol system 106 may send the first control signal to the RPA system105 either proactively or in response to a user command.

FIG. 6 illustrates a high level process flow 600 for individualapplication flow isotope tagging within a network infrastructure, inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention. In particular, thehigh level process flow 600 illustrates process steps performed by therobotic process automation isotope tagging application 174 stored onmemory device 170 and run on the RPA system 105 for evaluating/testingdata transmission characteristics of the entity communication networkand evaluating data flows associated in individual applications, inreal-time or near real-time, by converting the RPA system 105 into adedicated virtual workstation. These steps are typically performed byprocessor 168 (also referred to as the second processor) of the RPAsystem 105 based on executing computer readable/executableinstructions/code of the RPA application 174 a constructed by thecontrol system 106 (as described by process flow 500 of FIG. 5).

As illustrated by block 602, in response to the first control signal,the RPA isotope tagging application 174 is structured to monitor thefirst technology activity application. The first technology applicationis typically run on a source network node (e.g., source network node 242illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8C). The source network node may be distinctfrom the control system 106 and the RPA system 105, or alternatively,the source network node may be one of the control system 106 or the RPAsystem 105. In some embodiments, the RPA isotope tagging application 174monitors the functions/activities performed by the RPA isotope taggingapplication 174, and identifies any corresponding data packets beingsent out (and/or being received) from the source network node.Alternatively, in other embodiments, the RPA isotope tagging application174 initiates testing of the first technology application by causingactivation of the first technology application and causing the firsttechnology application to perform the first technology activity, as willbe described in detail below. As such, the RPA isotope taggingapplication 174 is configured to identify a first data packet associatedwith a first activity of the technology application (e.g., technologyapplication 1 indicated on FIGS. 8A and 8C), that is transmitted fromthe source network node to a destination network node (e.g., networknode 236 a illustrated by FIG. 8) of the plurality of network nodes.Typically, the data packets are transmitted from the source network nodeto the destination network node via one or more intermediate networknodes (e.g., network nodes 240, 215 and 230 illustrated by FIGS. 8A and8C), with the foregoing nodes forming a network transmission path (e.g.,network transmission path “X” illustrated by FIGS. 8A and 8C).

In the embodiments where the RPA isotope tagging application 174initiates testing of the first technology application, in someinstances, the system 105 may receive, from an input device (of the RPAsystem 106 or another networked device/system), a user request to testthe first technology activity of the first technology application. TheRPA system 105 may then transmit an activation control instruction tothe source network node. This activation control instruction isstructured for activating the first technology application at the sourcenetwork node. The RPA system may then transmit an activity controlinstruction structured for causing the first technology application toperform the first technology activity. Here, the RPA system 105 maytransmit the first technology activity input to the source node usingcontrols of an input device of the source network node, as describedpreviously with respect to FIG. 3. Subsequently, the RPA systemidentifies the first data packet of a first sequence of data packetsassociated with the first technology activity that is configured to betransmitted from the source network node.

In this regard, as discussed with respect to FIG. 3, the RPA systemtypically identifies a first input data portion to be provided at firstinterface of the first technology application for causing theapplication to perform the first technology activity at the sourcenetwork node. This input data portions may refer to one or more ofclicking/selection of particular graphical elements of the firstinterface of the technology application, providing textual input, etc.The RPA system then identifies an input device of a plurality of inputdevices of the source network node that is associated with the firstinput data portion, (e.g., a mouse/pointer device, a keyboard, etc.) andidentifies an input signal format associated with the input device. TheRPA system then transforms the first input data portion into the inputsignal format associated with the input device, and transmits, to thefirst technology application, input device control signals for the firstinput data in the input signal format, in a similar manner as describedwith respect to FIG. 3, thereby causing the first technology applicationto perform the first technology activity and subsequent transmission ofcorresponding data packets.

Typically, data transmitted by the technology application is segmentedinto a plurality of fixed size or varying size data packets fortransmission as a sequence, which are then assembled at the destinationnode upon receipt. The destination node may not necessarily receive thedata packets in the order they were sent. Hence, the data packets inthis sequence contain sequence packet numbers or identification tagsthat help the destination network node to reconstruct the transmitteddata by assembling the data packets correct order. As such, the RPAsystem typically identifies the sequence of data packets associated withthe first technology activity that transmitted from the source networknode and identifies the order/presence/total number of the individualpackets based on the packet sequence number in the header element of thedata packets.

Prior to transmission of the data packets associated with the particulartechnology activity from the source network node, the RPA system insertsunique isotope tag strings in the data packets, as indicated by block604. As will be described in detail with respect to FIGS. 7A and 7B, theRPA system inserts at least a portion of the unique isotope tag stringin at least one of the header element, the payload element, and thetrailer element of each of the data packets. Typically, the uniqueisotope tag string comprises multiple portions/elements. A first isotopeportion may correspond to the technology application associated with thedata packet, e.g., comprising a unique identifier of the associatedtechnology application (for example: “TTBO.EXE”). In some embodiments,the first isotope portion comprises a predetermined formatting, apredetermined number of bytes and a predetermined number of characters.This unique identifier of the associated technology applicationtypically remains the same for all technology activities performed bythe technology application. A second isotope portion may correspond tothe particular technology activity being performed that caused theorigination of the data packet, e.g., comprising a unique identifier ofthe associated technology activity (for example: “PE412A#”). Similarly,in some embodiments, the second isotope portion comprises apredetermined formatting, a predetermined number of bytes and apredetermined number of characters. This unique identifier of theassociated technology activity typically remains the same for all datapackets/strings/sequences sent for that technology activity. A thirdisotope portion may correspond to the sequence of the data packet withinthe data packet string, e.g., packet sequence number retrieved from theheader of the data packet (for example: “A1”). In some embodiments, thefirst isotope portion comprises a predetermined formatting, apredetermined number of bytes and a predetermined number of characters.The packet sequence number is typically distinct among fragmented datapackets belonging to a particular packet sequence/string for aparticular activity, by may be similar to packet sequence numbersassociated with data packet strings of other activities/technologyapplications. The RPA system may assemble these isotope portions, in asuitable order, to construct the unique isotope tag string for each datapacket (e.g., “TTBO.EXE//PE412A#//A1” or TTBO.EXEPE412A#A1”). Forexample, the RPA system may construct a first unique isotope tag stringfor a first data packet (e.g., first data packet 810A illustrated inFIGS. 8A and 8C) of the first technology activity having (i) a firstisotope portion comprising a unique identifier of the first technologyapplication, (ii) a second isotope portion comprising a uniqueidentifier of the first technology activity; and/or (iii) a thirdisotope portion comprising the packet sequence number of the first datapacket, resulting in a first unique isotope tag string of“TTBO.EXE//PE412A#//A1”. As another example, the RPA system mayconstruct a second unique isotope tag string for a second data packet(e.g., first data packet 810B illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8C) of thefirst technology activity having (i) a first isotope portion comprisingthe unique identifier of the first technology application (e.g.,“TTBO.EXE”); (ii) a second isotope portion comprising the uniqueidentifier of the first technology activity (e.g., PE412A#); and (iii) athird isotope portion comprising the packet sequence number of thesecond data packet (e.g., “A5”), resulting in the second unique isotopetag string of “TTBO.EXE//PE412A#//A5”. In some embodiments, the uniqueisotope tag string may comprise at least a portion of an IP addressand/or a MAC address of the corresponding network node.

Similarly, the RPA application 174 may construct the unique isotope tagstrings for data packets associated with other activities (also referredto as a second technology activity or an auxiliary technology activity)and for data packets associated with other technology applications. Forexample, the RPA system may construct a third/auxiliary unique isotopetag string for a third data packet (e.g., third data packet 810Cillustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8C) of another auxiliary activity performedby the first technology application having: (i) a first isotope portioncomprising the unique identifier of the first technology application(e.g., “TTBO.EXE”), (ii) a second isotope portion comprising anauxiliary unique identifier of the auxiliary technology activity (e.g.,“56DRT20”); and/or (iii) a third isotope portion comprising the packetsequence number of the auxiliary data packet (e.g., “J7”), resulting ina isotope tag of “TTBO.EXE//56DRT20//J7”. In a similar manner, the RPAsystem may construct an unique isotope tag string for a data packet(e.g., data packet 740C illustrated in FIG. 8) association with adifferent second technology application (e.g., technology application 4indicated in FIG. 8) to be “App34//44rc//J7”.

As discussed, the RPA isotope tagging application is structured toinsert a first unique isotope tag string in at least one of a headerportion, a payload portion, and a trailer portion of the first datapacket prior to transmission from the source network node of theplurality of network nodes, as indicated by block 604. In someembodiments, as indicated by block 606, the RPA isotope taggingapplication initiates transmission of the first data packet from thesource network node of the plurality of network nodes to the destinationnetwork node of the plurality of network nodes.

The RPA isotope tagging application is configured to track, in realtime, application flow of the technology application within network dataflow of a plurality of applications of the entity communication network,as illustrated by block 608. In some embodiments, the RPA application isconfigured to track, in real time, current states of data flowsassociated with individual activities of each technology application,for example, based on the Transport Layer Security (TLS) sessionhandshakes (i.e., authentication and key exchange protocols forproviding privacy and data integrity between two communicating nodes orapplications), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) communication securityprotocols for establishing, resuming and/or conducting sessions betweentwo communicating nodes or applications, and the like. Moreover, in someembodiments, the RPA application is structured to employ a routing tableor routing information base (RIB) to map packet queues, transmission anddelivery. Tracking the data flows comprises determining currentlocations of the data packets based on the respective unique isotope tagstrings, as will be described in detail with respect to FIGS. 8A-8C.

In some embodiments, for each data packet, based on the source anddestination network nodes, the network architecture and the transmissionprotocols, the system identifies one or more intermediate network nodesthat are likely to be utilized in transmitting the first data packetfrom the source network node to the destination network node (e.g.,based on identifying likely network transmission paths). The RPA systemmay then monitor incoming data packets at each of the identified nodesin the likely transmission paths (also referred to as path networknodes). The path network nodes of the plurality of network nodescomprise the one or more likely intermediate network nodes, thedestination network node and the source network node. The RPA system maythen parse each of the one or more incoming data packets at each of thenodes to identify the unique isotope tag strings inserted in the datapacket. Subsequently, the system is able to pinpoint the preciselocation of a particular data packet (e.g., a first data packet) basedon identifying that the unique isotope tag string of a first incomingdata packet of the one or more incoming data packets at the firstnetwork node of path network nodes matches the first unique isotope tagstring. The system may ascertain, in real time, that the currentlocation of the first data packet is the first node, i.e., the node atwhich it is identified at the current time.

Here, the RPA system typically matches the corresponding portions of theisotope tag with unique identifiers of the technology application and/ortechnology activity desired to be tracked to identify the data flowcharacteristics. For instance, the system may identifying that (i) afirst isotope portion of the unique isotope tag string of the firstincoming data packet matches a unique identifier of the identifier ofthe first technology application, and (ii) a second isotope portion ofthe unique isotope tag string of the first incoming data packet matchesa unique identifier of the first technology activity, to conclude thatthe first incoming data packet is associated with the first technologyactivity performed by the first technology application. Next, at block610, the RPA isotope tagging application then presents, on a displaydevice, the current location of the first data packet in an applicationtracking user interface, as will be described in detail with respect toFIGS. 8A-8C.

FIGS. 7A and 7B, illustrate schematic representations 700A and 700B of adata packet 710, respectively, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe invention. In particular, FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a schematicrepresentation of a data packet (710, 710′) (also referred to as anetwork packet) that is generated by the technology application of thesource network node. The data packet (710, 710′) typically comprises aheader portion/element (720, 720′), a payload portion/element (730,730′) and a trailer/footer portion/element (740, 704′). The headerportion (720, 720′) typically comprises instructions about the datacarried by the packet, including length of packet (e.g., in the case ofvariable length data packets), packet sequence number (728, 728′),protocol associated with the data packet/network (726, 726′) (e.g.,defining what type of packet is being transmitted: e-mail, web page,streaming video), destination address (724, 724′) (e.g., IP addressand/or MAC address of the destination network node) and/or anoriginating address (722, 722′) (e.g., IP address and/or MAC address ofthe source network node). The payload portion (730, 730′) typically isthe body of the data packet containing the data that is desired to bedelivered to the destination network node. The trailer/footer portion(740, 704′) comprises packet end data (732, 732′) indicating the end ofthe packet and/or error checks such as a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)(734, 734′).

As discussed with respect to block 604 of FIG. 6, the RPA system insertsat least a portion of the unique isotope tag string in at least one ofthe header portion/element (720, 720′), a payload portion/element (730,730′) and a trailer/footer portion/element (740, 704′), of each of thedata packets. In some embodiments, as illustrated by FIG. 7A, the systemmay insert the unique isotope tag string 550 in the headerportion/element 720 of the data packet 710. In some embodiments, asillustrated by FIG. 7B, the system may insert a first unique isotope tagstring element 560A (e.g., the first isotope portion comprising a uniqueidentifier of the associated technology application) in the headerportion/element 720′ and a second unique isotope tag string element 560B(e.g., the second isotope portion comprising a unique identifier of theassociated technology activity) in the trailer portion/element 740′.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate schematic representations 800A-800C of areal-time application tracking user interface 174 a of the RPA isotopetagging application 174, respectively, in accordance with someembodiments of the invention. As discussed with respect to block 608 ofFIG. 6, the RPA isotope tagging application is configured to track, inreal time, application flow of the technology application within networkdata flow of a plurality of applications of the entity communicationnetwork. Tracking the data flows comprises identifying in real-time, acurrent state of the data flows associated with a particular activity ofa particular technology application within the entity communicationnetwork 200, e.g., by determining current locations of the data packetsbased on the respective unique isotope tag strings.

Now referring to FIGS. 8A and 8C, in some embodiments, for each datapacket associated with the specific activity of the particulartechnology application, based on the source network node (e.g., networknode 242) and destination network nodes (e.g., network node 236 a), thenetwork architecture and the transmission protocols, the systemidentifies one or more intermediate network nodes (e.g., network nodes240, 215, and 230) that are likely to be utilized in transmitting thefirst data packet (e.g., data packet 810A) from the source network nodeto the destination network node (e.g., based on identifying likelynetwork transmission paths such as path “X”). The RPA system may thenmonitor incoming data packets at each of the identified nodes in thelikely transmission paths (e.g., network nodes 240, 215, 230 and 236 a),e.g., based on the Transport Layer Security (TLS) session handshakes(i.e., authentication and key exchange protocols for providing privacyand data integrity between two communicating nodes or applications),Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) communication security protocols forestablishing, resuming and/or conducting sessions between twocommunicating nodes or applications, and the like. The RPA system maythen parse each of the one or more incoming data packets (e.g., datapackets 810C at node 240; data packets 810A, 810B and 840C at node 215and data packet 840B at node 236 a) at each of the nodes to identify theunique isotope tag strings inserted in the data packet. Subsequently,the system is able to pinpoint the precise location of a particular datapacket (e.g., a first data packet 810A) at a given instance of time,based on identifying that the unique isotope tag string of a firstincoming data packet of the one or more incoming data packets at thefirst network node of path network nodes matches the first uniqueisotope tag string. The system may ascertain, in real time that thecurrent location of the first data packet is the first node, i.e., thenode at which it is identified at the current time based on preciselyidentifying that the first data packet is currently at as incoming oroutgoing queue of the first node.

Here, the RPA system typically presents an application tracking userinterface 174 a (GUI) of the RPA application on a suitable displaydevice (e.g., a display device of the RPA system 105 or a display deviceof another networked device), as illustrated by FIGS. 8A and 8C. Thesystem may construct a graphical representation 800A and 800C of atleast a portion of the network architecture of the entity communicationnetwork 200 (illustrated in FIG. 2) comprising at least the sourcenetwork node, the destination network node and the one or moreintermediate network nodes, and present this interface 174 a on thedisplay device. The graphical representation 800A-800C comprise suitablegraphical representations of the network nodes and the operativecommunication links. The interface 174 a is constructed such that theuser may select one or more network nodes to activate pop-up dataelements (852, 854) containing actionable elements associated withtechnology applications and/or technology activities present on, or thatare currently active on the network node. For example, data element 852comprises action elements for technology applications 1, 4 and 12 thatare stored on the network node 242. As another example, data element 854comprises action elements for technology applications 3 and 4 that arecurrently active on the network node 256 c. The user may then select oneor more of these action elements to cause the interface 174 a to presentdata flows associated with the particular technology application ortechnology activity.

For instance, as illustrated by FIGS. 8A and 8C, the user may select theaction element associated with a first technology activity of thetechnology application 1 (in the data element 852) of the network node242. The system may then overlay a graphical path element associatedwith the network transmission path “X” on the graphical representation800A and 800C indicating the path of flow of the data packets from thesource node (i.e., network node 242) to the destination node (i.e.,network node 236 a) via intermediate nodes (i.e., network nodes 240, 215and 236 a). Next the RPA system may overlay data packet elements (e.g.,elements 810A, 810B, and 810C) indicating the current locations of datapackets, whose positions are changed, in real-time, based on theirprecise locations at a particular instance in time. For instance, thesystem may overlay element 810A associated with the first data packet ofthe first technology activity of the technology application 1 proximatea representation of the network node 215, indicating the data packet isincoming (e.g., present in an incoming queue) or has been received(e.g., is being processed) at the network node 215. Similarly, systemmay overlay elements 810B and 810C (e.g., data packets/fragmentsbelonging to a sequence/string of data packets) that are also associatedwith the first technology activity of the technology application 1,proximate appropriate network nodes, indicating their current location.

As discussed, the application tracking interface 174 a is dynamic and isconfigured for real time modification to indicate changes in data flowsto reflect the current state of the data flows of individual activitiesof individual applications. In some embodiments, the system may identifythat the current location of the first data packet 810A has changed fromthe first network node (e.g., network node 215) to subsequent secondnetwork node (e.g., network node 230) associated with the networktransmission path “X”. The RPA system 105 may then modify the spatialposition of the data packet element 810A associated with the first datapacket such that the data packet element is proximate a representationof a second network node 230, as indicated by 810A′, in real-time.

As another example, as illustrated by FIGS. 8A and 8C, the user mayselect the action element associated with another technology activity ofthe technology application 4 (in the data element 852) of the networknode 242. The system may then overlay a graphical path elementassociated with the network transmission path “Z” on the graphicalrepresentations 800A and 800C indicating the path of flow of the datapackets from the source node (i.e., network node 242) to the destinationnode (e.g., network node 236 b) via intermediate nodes (i.e., networknodes 240, 215, and 230). Next the RPA system may overlay data packetelements indicating the current locations of data packets (e.g., 840Band 840C).

As such, the real-time application tracking user interface 174 acomprises a map of data flows indicating the overall volumes of dataflows across the entity communication network 200, illustrated by FIG.8A and illustrated in more particularly by Detail 800B of FIG. 8B.Specifically, as illustrated by FIG. 8B, the interface 174 a isstructured to illustrate a network view indicating the real-time stateof data flows A across each network node (e.g., network node 215).However, although this real-time network view provides the currentvolumes of data flows across the network nodes, it does not, howeverascertain the specific activities/processes of specific applicationsthat are causing these data flows A. Hence, based on the isotope taggingand tracking described herein, the RPA application is structured tooverlay a real-time dynamic application process view (e.g., paths X, Y,and Z having corresponding dynamic data flow/packet indicators 810A,810B, 840C, and 830A), over the network view, indicating the data flowsof the specific activities/processes being run by individualapplications across the entity communication network 200, at aparticular instance of time.

The correlation and overlay of the data flows of the individualactivities/processes of individual applications over the overall networkflow, allows the RPA system to ascertain which specific activities oftechnology applications are driving the performance characteristics ofthe network/network nodes such as, throughput, latency, size of queues,bit-rate, bandwidth consumption, and the like. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 8A, the system may identify current data flowsassociated with a second technology activity of the technologyapplication 3 (indicated by the data element 854) of the network node256 c. The system may identify (and over lay on the interface 174 a) thenetwork transmission path “Y” of the path of flow of the data packetsfrom the source node (i.e., network node 256 c) to the destination node(i.e., an external destination, with the data packet leaving the entitycommunication network 200 at node 290 (e.g., a router/firewall/modem) orto another part of the network 290) via intermediate nodes (i.e.,network nodes 250 and 215). As discussed, the RPA system may overlaydata packet elements indicating the current locations of data packets.For instance, the system may overlay elements 830A and 830B, indicatingtheir current locations. Based on the correlation/overlay of the overallnetwork data flow and the specific data flows of the particular activityof the technology application 3 (indicated by FIG. 8B), the system mayidentify that the data flows Y associated with a stimulus activity,i.e., the second technology activity of the technology application 3cause at least one of the performance characteristics (e.g., throughput,latency, size of queues, bit-rate, bandwidth consumption) of the networknode 215 (or another network node or communication link) to exceed orfall below (or otherwise deviate from) a predetermined optimal thresholdrange (e.g., having upper limits and lower limits) of the performancecharacteristic.

In response, as illustrated by FIG. 8C, the RPA system may dynamicallyand in real-time, undertake mitigation measures. Here, in someembodiments, the RPA system may perform horizontal scaling measures,involving automatically employing or adding additional network nodes orprocesses of the entity communication network 200 (typically, suitablenodes that do not adversely affect certain performance characteristicslike SLA) to process the data flows for a certain time period, e.g.,until the identified deviated performance characteristics of thenetwork/network nodes identified above, are restored to optimum levels.In other embodiments, the RPA system may perform network scalingmeasures (e.g., geographic scaling measures), involving automaticallymoving the processing of the identified stimulus activity to anotherpart of the network, for a predetermined time period. For example, asillustrated by FIG. 8C, the system may re-route forthcoming data packetflows (e.g., 830B′) to another available/suitable network node 212, asindicated by path Y′. Moreover, the mitigation measures may also involvesecurity scrubbing, i.e., removal of malicious data flows, and/orimpeding/discontinuing applications/activities that cause the maliciousdata flows.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method (including, for example, acomputer-implemented process, a business process, and/or any otherprocess), apparatus (including, for example, a system, machine, device,computer program product, and/or the like), or a combination of theforegoing. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may takethe form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely softwareembodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, and thelike), or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that maygenerally be referred to herein as a “system.” Furthermore, embodimentsof the present invention may take the form of a computer program producton a computer-readable medium having computer-executable program codeembodied in the medium.

Any suitable transitory or non-transitory computer readable medium maybe utilized. The computer readable medium may be, for example but notlimited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared,or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples ofthe computer readable medium include, but are not limited to, thefollowing: an electrical connection having one or more wires; a tangiblestorage medium such as a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a compact discread-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical or magnetic storage device.

In the context of this document, a computer readable medium may be anymedium that can contain, store, communicate, or transport the programfor use by or in connection with the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device. The computer usable program code may betransmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited tothe Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, radio frequency (RF)signals, or other mediums.

Computer-executable program code for carrying out operations ofembodiments of the present invention may be written in an objectoriented, scripted or unscripted programming language. However, thecomputer program code for carrying out operations of embodiments of thepresent invention may also be written in conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages.

Embodiments of the present invention are described above with referenceto flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products. It will be understood thateach block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and/orcombinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable program codeportions. These computer-executable program code portions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce aparticular machine, such that the code portions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create mechanisms for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer-executable program code portions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the code portions stored in the computer readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instructionmechanisms which implement the function/act specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block(s).

The computer-executable program code may also be loaded onto a computeror other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the codeportions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatusprovide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block(s). Alternatively, computer programimplemented steps or acts may be combined with operator or humanimplemented steps or acts in order to carry out an embodiment of theinvention.

As the phrase is used herein, a processor may be “configured to” performa certain function in a variety of ways, including, for example, byhaving one or more general-purpose circuits perform the function byexecuting particular computer-executable program code embodied incomputer-readable medium, and/or by having one or moreapplication-specific circuits perform the function.

Embodiments of the present invention are described above with referenceto flowcharts and/or block diagrams. It will be understood that steps ofthe processes described herein may be performed in orders different thanthose illustrated in the flowcharts. In other words, the processesrepresented by the blocks of a flowchart may, in some embodiments, be inperformed in an order other that the order illustrated, may be combinedor divided, or may be performed simultaneously. It will also beunderstood that the blocks of the block diagrams illustrated, in someembodiments, merely conceptual delineations between systems and one ormore of the systems illustrated by a block in the block diagrams may becombined or share hardware and/or software with another one or more ofthe systems illustrated by a block in the block diagrams. Likewise, adevice, system, apparatus, and/or the like may be made up of one or moredevices, systems, apparatuses, and/or the like. For example, where aprocessor is illustrated or described herein, the processor may be madeup of a plurality of microprocessors or other processing devices whichmay or may not be coupled to one another. Likewise, where a memory isillustrated or described herein, the memory may be made up of aplurality of memory devices which may or may not be coupled to oneanother.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments aremerely illustrative of, and not restrictive on, the broad invention, andthat this invention not be limited to the specific constructions andarrangements shown and described, since various other changes,combinations, omissions, modifications and substitutions, in addition tothose set forth in the above paragraphs, are possible. Those skilled inthe art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications ofthe just described embodiments can be configured without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understoodthat, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may bepracticed other than as specifically described herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for individual application flow isotopetagging within a network infrastructure, wherein the system isconfigured to construct a robotic process automation applicationstructured to determine data flow associated with a first technologyapplication within the network infrastructure, comprising: an entitycommunication network comprising a plurality of network nodes; a controlsystem in operative communication with the entity communication networkcomprising: a first processor; a first memory device; and a roboticprocess automation (RPA) control application that is stored in the firstmemory device comprising computer readable instructions executable bythe first processor; a robotic process automation (RPA) device inoperative communication with the control system and the entitycommunication network, the RPA device comprising: a second processor; asecond memory device; and a robotic process automation (RPA) isotopetagging application that is stored in the second memory devicecomprising computer readable instructions executable by the secondprocessor; wherein the RPA control application is configured to:identify the plurality of network nodes of the entity communicationnetwork, wherein identifying the plurality of network nodes comprisesdetermining a network architecture of the entity communication network;configure the robotic process automation (RPA) isotope taggingapplication for tagging and tracking data flow associated with a firsttechnology application of a plurality of applications of the entitycommunication network, based on the network architecture; transmit, viaa first operative communication link, the RPA isotope taggingapplication to the RPA device; and transmit a first control signal, viathe first operative communication link, to the RPA isotope taggingapplication, the first control signal being structured to cause the RPAisotope tagging application to initiate the tagging and tracking of thedata flow associated with the first technology application; wherein theRPA isotope tagging application is configured to: in response to thefirst control signal, identify a first data packet associated with afirst technology activity of the first technology application, whereinthe first data packet is structured to be transmitted from a sourcenetwork node to a destination network node of the plurality of networknodes, via one or more intermediate network nodes of the plurality ofnetwork nodes; insert a first unique isotope tag string in at least oneof a header element, a payload element, and a trailer element of thefirst data packet prior to transmission from the source network node ofthe plurality of network nodes; initiate transmission of the first datapacket from the source network node of the plurality of network nodes tothe destination network node of the plurality of network nodes; track,in real time, the data flow of the first technology application withinnetwork data flow of the plurality of applications of the entitycommunication network, wherein tracking comprises determining a currentlocation of the first data packet based on the first unique isotope tagstring; and present, on a display device, the current location of thefirst data packet in an application tracking user interface.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the RPA isotope tagging application isfurther configured to: identify a first network transmission path thatis associated with transmitting the first data packet from the sourcenetwork node to the destination network node via a first intermediatenetwork node of the one or more intermediate network nodes; determine acurrent network performance characteristic associated with the firstintermediate network node; and based on determining (i) that the currentnetwork performance characteristic associated with the firstintermediate network node is outside of a predetermined threshold range;(ii) that the data flow associated with the first technology activity ofthe first technology application comprising the first data packetcauses, at least in part, the current network performance characteristicto occur at outside of the predetermined threshold range, re-route oneor more second data packets associated with the first technologyactivity of the first technology application through a secondintermediate network node of the plurality of network nodes that is notassociated with the first network transmission path; wherein the secondintermediate network node is associated with transmitting the one ormore second data packets from the source network node to the destinationnetwork node via a second network transmission path.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein configuring the RPA isotope tagging application fortagging and tracking the data flow associated with the first technologyapplication comprises structuring the RPA isotope tagging application toutilize controls of an input device of the RPA device to interact with afirst interface of the first technology application for converting theRPA device into a virtual workstation for the RPA isotope taggingapplication.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of networknodes comprise one or more modems, one or more hubs, one or moreswitches, one or more routers, one or more load balancers, and one ormore data terminal equipment devices.
 5. The system of claim 4, whereinthe one or more data terminal equipment devices of the entitycommunication network comprise one or more of server devices, proxyservers, one or more computing devices, one or more data output devices,and/or one or more network hosts having corresponding unique networkaddresses.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein configuring the RPA isotopetagging application, by the RPA control application, further comprises:identifying the first technology application of a plurality of sourcetechnology applications run by the source network node; identifying oneor more technology activities performed by the first technologyapplication that are associated with transmission of data packetsbetween at least a portion of the plurality of network nodes of theentity communication network; and structuring the RPA isotope taggingapplication for inserting unique isotope tag strings into each of thedata packets transmitted by the first technology application forperforming the first technology activity of the one or more technologyactivities.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein identifying, by the RPAisotope tagging application, the first data packet associated with thefirst technology activity of the first technology application, furthercomprises: identifying that the first technology activity is initiatedby the first technology application at the source network node;identifying a first sequence of data packets associated with the firsttechnology activity that are configured to be transmitted from thesource network node; identify the first data packet of the firstsequence of data packets based on analyzing a packet sequence number inthe header element of the first data packet; insert the first uniqueisotope tag string in at least one of the header element, the payloadelement, and the trailer element of the first data packet prior totransmission from the source network node, wherein the first uniqueisotope tag string comprises: a first isotope portion comprising aunique application identifier of the first technology application; asecond isotope portion comprising a unique activity identifier of thefirst technology activity; and a third isotope portion comprising thepacket sequence number of the first data packet.
 8. The system of claim7, wherein the RPA isotope tagging application is further configured to:identify that an auxiliary technology activity is initiated by the firsttechnology application at the source network node; identifying anauxiliary sequence of data packets associated with the auxiliarytechnology activity that are structured to be transmitted from thesource network node; identify a third data packet of the auxiliarysequence of data packets based on analyzing a packet sequence number inthe header element of the third data packet; insert a third uniqueisotope tag string in at least one of a header element, a payloadelement, and a trailer element of the third data packet prior totransmission from the source network node, wherein the third uniqueisotope tag string comprises: a first isotope portion comprising theunique application identifier of the first technology application; asecond isotope portion comprising an auxiliary unique activityidentifier of the auxiliary technology activity; and a third isotopeportion comprising the packet sequence number of the auxiliary datapacket.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein identifying, by the RPAisotope tagging application, the first data packet associated with thefirst technology activity of the first technology application, furthercomprises: receiving, from an input device, a user request to test thefirst technology activity of the first technology application;transmitting an activation control instruction structured for activatingthe first technology application at the source network node;transmitting an activity control instruction structured for causing thefirst technology application to perform the first technology activity,wherein transmitting the activity control instruction comprisestransmitting, to the first technology application first technologyactivity input using controls of a source input device of the sourcenetwork node; identifying the first data packet of a first sequence ofdata packets associated with the first technology activity that isconfigured to be transmitted from the source network node; and insertthe first unique isotope tag string in at least one of the headerelement, the payload element, and the trailer element of the first datapacket prior to transmission from the source network node.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein transmitting, by the RPA isotope taggingapplication, the activity control instruction structured for causing thefirst technology application to perform the first technology activityfurther comprises: identify a first input data portion to be provided atfirst interface of the first technology application for performing thefirst technology activity at the source network node; identify thesource input device of a plurality of source input devices of the sourcenetwork node that is associated with the first input data portion;identify an input signal format associated with the source input device;transform the first input data portion into the input signal formatassociated with the source input device; and transmit, to the firsttechnology application, input device control signals for the first inputdata portion in the input signal format for causing the first technologyapplication to perform the first technology activity.
 11. The system ofclaim 1, wherein tracking, by the RPA isotope tagging application, thedata flow of the first technology application within the network dataflow of the plurality of applications of the entity communicationnetwork, further comprises: identifying the one or more intermediatenetwork nodes that are associated with transmitting the first datapacket from the source network node to the destination network nodebased on identifying a network transmission path; identifying, at eachof path network nodes of the plurality of network nodes one or moreincoming data packets, wherein the path network nodes of the pluralityof network nodes comprise the one or more intermediate network nodes,the destination network node and the source network node; parsing, at afirst network node of the path network nodes, each of the one or moreincoming data packets to identify a unique isotope tag string of thedata packet; based on identifying that the unique isotope tag string ofa first incoming data packet of the one or more incoming data packets atthe first network node of the path network nodes matches the firstunique isotope tag string, determining that the current location of thefirst data packet is the first network node of the path network nodes.12. The system of claim 11, wherein identifying, by the RPA isotopetagging application, that the unique isotope tag string of the firstincoming data packet of the one or more incoming data packets at thefirst network node of the path network nodes matches the first uniqueisotope tag string, further comprises: identifying that (i) a firstisotope portion of the unique isotope tag string of the first incomingdata packet matches a unique identifier of the first technologyapplication, and (ii) a second isotope portion of the unique isotope tagstring of the first incoming data packet matches a unique identifier ofthe first technology activity.
 13. The system of claim 1, whereinpresenting, by the RPA isotope tagging application, the current locationof the first data packet in the application tracking user interface,further comprises: identifying the one or more intermediate networknodes that are associated with transmitting the first data packet fromthe source network node to the destination network node based onidentifying a network transmission path; constructing a graphicalrepresentation of at least a portion of the network architecture of theentity communication network comprising at least the source networknode, the destination network node and the one or more intermediatenetwork nodes; presenting the graphical representation of at least theportion of the network architecture on a display device, whereinpresenting comprises overlaying a graphical path element associated withthe network transmission path on the graphical representation of atleast the portion of the network architecture; and overlaying a datapacket element associated with the first data packet, proximate arepresentation of a first network node associated with the currentlocation of the first data packet on the graphical representation of atleast the portion of the network architecture.
 14. The system of claim13, wherein the RPA isotope tagging application is further configuredto: identify that the current location of the first data packet haschanged from the first network node to subsequent second network nodeassociated with the network transmission path; and modify, in real time,a spatial position of the data packet element associated with the firstdata packet such that the data packet element is proximate to arepresentation of a second network node on the graphical representationof at least the portion of the network architecture.
 15. The system ofclaim 1, wherein determining the network architecture of the entitycommunication network by the RPA control application further comprisesidentifying data communication links between the plurality of nodes andunique network addresses of the plurality of network nodes for operativecommunication using the data communication links.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, wherein determining the network architecture of the entitycommunication network by the RPA control application, further comprises:identifying a physical layer of the network architecture of the entitycommunication network, comprising identifying networking hardwaretransmission protocols for transmission of bit streams physical links ofthe data communication links between the plurality of nodes; identifyinga data link layer of the network architecture of the entitycommunication network, comprising identifying networking transmissionprotocols for frame synchronization, logical link control and mediaaccess control associated with the data communication links between theplurality of nodes, wherein identifying the data link layer comprisesidentifying media access control (MAC) addresses of at least a portionof the plurality of nodes; identifying a network layer of the networkarchitecture of the entity communication network, comprising identifyingdata packet forwarding and routing protocols associated with the datacommunication links between the plurality of nodes, wherein identifyingthe network layer comprises identifying internet protocol (IP) addressesof at least the portion of the plurality of nodes; and identifying atransport layer of the network architecture of the entity communicationnetwork, comprising identifying host-to-host communication protocols forthe plurality of technology applications associated with at least theportion of the plurality of nodes.
 17. A computer program product forindividual application flow isotope tagging within a networkinfrastructure, wherein the computer program product is configured toconstruct a robotic process automation application structured todetermine data flow associated with a first technology applicationwithin the network infrastructure, comprising one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructionsthat when executed by one or more processing devices are configured tocause the one or more processing devices to: identify a plurality ofnetwork nodes of an entity communication network, wherein identifyingthe plurality of network nodes comprises determining a networkarchitecture of the entity communication network; configure a roboticprocess automation (RPA) isotope tagging application for tagging andtracking data flow associated with a first technology application of aplurality of applications of the entity communication network, based onthe network architecture; transmit, via a first operative communicationlink, the RPA isotope tagging application to a RPA device; and transmita first control signal, via the first operative communication link, tothe RPA isotope tagging application, the first control signal beingstructured to cause the RPA isotope tagging application to initiate thetagging and tracking of the data flow associated with the firsttechnology application; in response to the first control signal,identify a first data packet associated with a first technology activityof the first technology application, wherein the first data packet isstructured to be transmitted from a source network node to a destinationnetwork node of the plurality of network nodes, via one or moreintermediate network nodes of the plurality of network nodes; insert afirst unique isotope tag string in at least one of a header element, apayload element, and a trailer element of the first data packet prior totransmission from the source network node of the plurality of networknodes; initiate transmission of the first data packet from the sourcenetwork node of the plurality of network nodes to the destinationnetwork node of the plurality of network nodes; track, in real time, thedata flow of the first technology application within network data flowof the plurality of applications of the entity communication network,wherein tracking comprises determining a current location of the firstdata packet based on the first unique isotope tag string; and present,on a display device, the current location of the first data packet in anapplication tracking user interface.
 18. The computer program product ofclaim 17, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions isfurther configured to cause the one or more processing devices to:identify a first network transmission path that is associated withtransmitting the first data packet from the source network node to thedestination network node via a first intermediate network node of theone or more intermediate network nodes; determine a current networkperformance characteristic associated with the first intermediatenetwork node; and based on determining (i) that the current networkperformance characteristic associated with the first intermediatenetwork node is outside of a predetermined threshold range; (ii) thatthe data flow associated with the first technology activity of the firsttechnology application comprising the first data packet causes, at leastin part, the current network performance characteristic to occur atoutside of the predetermined threshold range, re-route one or moresecond data packets associated with the first technology activity of thefirst technology application through a second intermediate network nodeof the plurality of network nodes that is not associated with the firstnetwork transmission path; wherein the second intermediate network nodeis associated with transmitting the one or more second data packets fromthe source network node to the destination network node via a secondnetwork transmission path.
 19. A computerized method for individualapplication flow isotope tagging within a network infrastructure,wherein a computer program product is configured to construct a roboticprocess automation application structured to determine data flowassociated with a first technology application within the networkinfrastructure, the computerized method comprising: identifying aplurality of network nodes of an entity communication network, whereinidentifying the plurality of network nodes comprises determining anetwork architecture of the entity communication network; configuring arobotic process automation (RPA) isotope tagging application for taggingand tracking data flow associated with a first technology application ofa plurality of applications of the entity communication network, basedon network architecture; transmitting, via a first operativecommunication link, the RPA isotope tagging application to a RPA device;and transmitting a first control signal, via the first operativecommunication link, to the RPA isotope tagging application, the firstcontrol signal being structured to cause the RPA isotope taggingapplication to initiate the tagging and tracking of the data flowassociated with the first technology application; in response to thefirst control signal, identifying a first data packet associated with afirst technology activity of the first technology application, whereinthe first data packet is structured to be transmitted from a sourcenetwork node to a destination network node of the plurality of networknodes, via one or more intermediate network nodes of the plurality ofnetwork nodes; inserting a first unique isotope tag string in at leastone of a header element, a payload element, and a trailer element of thefirst data packet prior to transmission from the source network node ofthe plurality of network nodes; initiating transmission of the firstdata packet from the source network node of the plurality of networknodes to the destination network node of the plurality of network nodes;tracking, in real time, the data flow of the first technologyapplication within network data flow of the plurality of applications ofthe entity communication network, wherein tracking comprises determininga current location of the first data packet based on the first uniqueisotope tag string; and presenting, on a display device, the currentlocation of the first data packet in an application tracking userinterface.
 20. The computerized method of claim 19, wherein thecomputerized method further comprises: identifying a first networktransmission path that is associated with transmitting the first datapacket from the source network node to the destination network node viaa first intermediate network node of the one or more intermediatenetwork nodes; determining a current network performance characteristicassociated with the first intermediate network node; and based ondetermining (i) that the current network performance characteristicassociated with the first intermediate network node is outside of apredetermined threshold range; (ii) that the data flow associated withthe first technology activity of the first technology applicationcomprising the first data packet causes, at least in part, the currentnetwork performance characteristic to occur at outside of thepredetermined threshold range, re-routing one or more second datapackets associated with the first technology activity of the firsttechnology application through a second intermediate network node of theplurality of network nodes that is not associated with the first networktransmission path; wherein the second intermediate network node isassociated with transmitting the one or more second data packets fromthe source network node to the destination network node via a secondnetwork transmission path.